National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative: Reducing Significant Non-Compliance (SNC) with NPDES Permits - Resources for NPDES Permittees and Other Organizations

• Assessing SNC Status
• SNC Policy, Guidance, and Publications
• Training: Technical Assistance Webinar Series
• Compliance Assistance

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Assessing SNC Status

​NPDES permittees are encouraged to assess their compliance status in one or both of the following ways:

• Review your discharge monitoring reports (DMRs).
• Use EPA’s Enforcement & Compliance History Online (ECHO) tool to look up your facility.

SNC Policy, Guidance, and Publications

• Memoranda: Revision of NPDES SNC Criteria to Address Violations of Non-Monthly Average Limits
• Regional Role in Reducing the NPDES Rate of Significant Noncompliance
• CWA NPDES Enforcement Management System (1989)
• May 29, 2008 Joint OCE/OC Memorandum, “Clarification of NPDES EMS Guidance on Timely and Appropriate Response to SNC Violations”

Training: Technical Assistance Webinar Series

The webinars are intended for plant operators, municipal leaders, technical assistance providers, and compliance inspection staff from federal, state, tribal and local governments. Every plant is unique and plant operators should discuss any major operational change with their NDPES permitting authority.

• Technical Assistance Webinar Series: Improving CWA-NPDES Permit Compliance

Compliance Assistance

Compliance Advisories

• Clean Water Agencies Increasing Attention to Significant Noncompliance Dischargers
• Federal Facility Compliance Under EPA's National Compliance Initiative to Reduce Significant Noncompliance with CWA NPDES Permits 
• Compliance Tips for Small, Mechanical Wastewater Treatment Plants 
• Compliance Tips for Small Wastewater Treatment Lagoons with Clean Water Act Discharge Permits (pdf) (882.57 KB)
• Tips for Submitting Timely, Accurate, and Complete NPDES Discharge Monitoring Reports (pdf) (213.05 KB)

Technical Resources, Assistance and Training

• Providing Process Control Technical Assistance to Small Mechanical WWTPs Series
  • Part 1: Introduction - provides and introduction and overview of the training material.
  • Part 2: Wastewater Treatment Plant Walkthrough - provides background and an overview of WWTP process units such as the equalization basin, aeration tank, clarifier, and more.
  • Part 3: Tools and Equipment - focuses on the tools and equipment used to diagnose and troubleshoot WWTP operation issues.
  • Part 4: Troubleshooting - focuses on sampling, measurement, and analysis techniques that can be used to troubleshoot WWTP issues.
• EPA’s NPDES Web Page provides an overview of NPDES program basics.
• Compliance Assistance Centers offer easy access to plain-language materials and one-on-one technical assistance by industry and government sector.
• WaterOperator.org is a free resource portal for small systems operators. View a compilation of YouTube channels for wastewater operators and browse their Blog to see announcements about other free wastewater operator training opportunities.
• The Rural Community Assistance Partnership  provides region- and state-specific and public training for water operators, utility board members, financial officers, and community members to help prepare communities to manage their own water systems. Operators can contact their regional RCAP training coordinator by clicking on their region on the training page’s map.
• The Water Environment Federation is a nonprofit association that provides technical education and training for water quality professionals. View their free webcasts.
• The National Rural Water Association and their State Associations provide training and on-site technical assistance to small and rural water and wastewater systems. State RWA chapters have their own websites and training resources. NRWA and the Department of Labor offer a free two-year WaterPro apprenticeship program.
• The Local Government Environmental Assistance Network (LGEAN) is a "first-stop shop" providing environmental management, planning, funding, and regulatory information for local government elected and appointed officials, managers and staff.
• US Department of Agriculture offers a free rural and small systems guidebook  to sustainable utility management and a “Workshop in a Box” for small wastewater systems to conduct workshops based on the guidebook. 
• State regulatory authorities sometimes provide free, on-line copies of wastewater training resources for self-study, such as Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection’s Training Modules and Ohio EPA’s Compliance Assistance Unit’s Technical Resources.  

Financial Assistance and Funding Sources

• EPA’s Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center lists financial tools and technical assistance partners that work with small and rural systems to increase financial capabilities.
• EPA’s Water Finance Clearinghouse is a database of financial assistance sources available to fund water infrastructure needs.
• The Environmental Finance Center Network offers free help on financial topics, such as creating an asset management plan. It also has a map of funding sources by states or territory. Click on a state or territory to view wastewater funding opportunities.